Brokenness Fades
by AstonSilver
Summary: Uni!AU. When Phil gets a call late one night, it sets a lot of things into motion. He slowly, but surely, becomes someone who, though not really knowing what he should do, is the one that Dan calls when he needs help. Of course, that doesn't come without a price. *Rating because of Dan, naturally.*


**AN: Alright, so...fair warning, I've been on YouTube way too much. I've gone back to following rabbit trails, which has always led to some pretty interesting story ideas.**

 **I just feel as if that should act as your warning to tread carefully on these.**

 **That being said, all of the 'writing prompts' I used for this one will be placed at the bottom of this chapter/story.**

 **This is a slight AU, as well.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

There were times where Dan _loathed_ living in Halls. Usually because he felt like he had no privacy whatsoever, but other times because the walls were rather thin and he always worried he'd wake someone up during one of his late-night freakouts and then he'd never live it down.

But it being a weekend, that wasn't the case anymore, as most of the people who had rooms close enough to his were out at some party.

He didn't know what caused it this time, just that all of a sudden he had this feeling of utter hopelessness and _oh my god, why am I still even trying to live_ and it hurt in a way that still surprised him despite happening far too often for it to be considered normal.

And though he knew it was late, he still found himself grabbing his phone and dialing a random number, not really caring at this point who it was.

He almost regretted it when someone answered, sounding a bit ruffled. " _Hello?"_

The voice was slightly confused, but it was still warm and soothing and Dan felt a sob tear itself from his throat.

Immediately, the other line was filled with concerned questions, including the simple 'are you okay?' and 'what's going on?'

And surprisingly, Dan answered. He choked out several concerns he held, some of what he went through, and never once did he get interrupted or told he was stupid, that it was pointless to worry over everything.

An hour later met them still on the phone, Dan falling asleep with tears dried on his face and a soothing voice without a name telling him everything was okay.

The following day, Dan woke up to his phone ringing at about ten thirty. He groaned, but answered it blindly. "Hi?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

He set his phone on speaker and put it down on the bed beside him, yawning.

" _Hey, sorry if I woke you up, but you called last night and I wanted to call back and make sure you were okay?"_

Dan paused. "I what?" he said, panic rising in him. "Oh my god, I am _so_ fucking sorry, you probably think I'm a freak who can't handle anything.."

This got a warm chuckle. " _No, it's fine. But you are okay, right? You seemed pretty upset and.."_

Silence met his question and Dan only sighed in slight relief. "I'm fine," he promised. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you last night or anything,"

" _I don't mind at all. You needed someone, I'm just glad I could help. My name's Phil, by the way."_

A small smile showed up then and Dan shook his head. "I'm Dan," he offered, voice a bit quieter than before.

Admittedly, Dan hadn't planned on making a new friend. It surprised him when he found out that Phil was going to the same university, but they arranged a time to meet up and ended up sitting around playing Crash Bandicoot and Mario Kart and just talking. And for a change, the pain that had become so permanent in Dan's heart wasn't there.

Phil asked more about what Dan went through, and eventually saw for himself just how the brunette was treated by his peers - some with cold indifference, which apparently didn't bother Dan, and some with a violent hatred that Phil couldn't see a reason behind.

On one of these days, Phil got in the way and Dan reacted extremely violently when he saw Phil take a hit for _him._

Once it had ended, Phil gave a wry smile to Dan, who shook his head and mumbled that he shouldn't have done it.

As the two headed to the cafeteria and found seats with PJ and Chris - two people they'd met one Saturday and had gotten on well with - they talked quietly.

PJ watched them as they joined them and spoke. "So, what happened?" he asked. "Because _something_ happened,"

Phil met PJ's eyes with an easy smile and shrugged as he spoke. "Nothing to worry about, Peej."

Dan gave the raven haired boy a dark look, but didn't offer any information.

This continued throughout the next month leading into their holiday break, and admittedly, Dan felt worse and worse every time Phil took his place. But each time, Phil came back looking happier than before.

One game night they were having with Chris and PJ before holiday break offiically arrived, Dan brought it up. "Why is it you always seem happier after you've intervened and gotten hurt?"

Chris and PJ listened, but didn't ask. It wasn't really their business, and though it was interesting they felt that the two had to work it out on their own.

Phil only shrugged. "Because it means you didn't get hurt. You shoulder enough alone without them making it worse, I want to help take some of that pressure away," he answered, eyes never leaving the screen.

Dan was silent for the rest of the night, thinking.

And so, it wasn't really a surprise when Phil got a call from him, crying, at three in the morning.

He listened only for a moment before he sighed and got up, slipping shoes and a jacket on. "I'll be right there,"

When he'd arrived at Dan's room, he opened the door, closing it quietly before he moved to sit beside Dan on the bed, wrapping an arm around him. "Alright, what's wrong?"  
Dan mumbled something and turned to hid his face against Phil's shoulder, trying to calm himself down so he wasn't crying in front of the other boy.

Once they started talking, Dan let everything he'd been feeling out, and Phil only ever gave him a supportive reply, trying to calm him down.

But...

"You deserve so much better as a friend than some broken thing like me," Dan said quietly, looking down in what seemed like shame and sorrow.

Phil's eyes lit up with a dark fire and he frowned, moving his arm from around Dan's shoulders to make him look up at him. "Don't be stupid, Dan. You're not _broken._ You're just a little damaged, like anyone would be given the situation, and I like having you as a friend. It doesn't matter what you feel I deserve, because given the choice, I will _always_ choose you over someone else as a friend because I can be me with you,"

Dan stared at him for a long moment before he broke again and Phil drew him into a hug.

When Phil got up, Dan let out a low whimper. "Please don't go,"

Phil stared at him before he half smiled and kicked his shoes off, shrugging the jacket off and laying it aside before laying down with Dan. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "I'll be here in the morning,"

Dan slept peacefully that night, but Phil stayed up thinking until the first light of dawn. He just couldn't believe that someone so kind could be so hurt. And he was suddenly much happier that he'd taken Dan's place in some of the abuse he got from his peers. Because he knew had someone not helped him, Dan would've become cold and hard from all the pressure and pain he suffered alone.

Phil sighed, tightening his arms around Dan comfortingly and whispering, "I promise I'll always be right here if you need me," before he let himself fall into the blissful hold of sleep as well.

 **Ooh...I liked this one...**

 **I sort of want to continue it, but I don't know. I'll leave it up to you guys.**

 **-Sky**


End file.
